


One in the Same

by ArtistCat15



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alfred is here and helpful, Denial, Dreams, M/M, cheesy ending, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-19 22:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18980035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtistCat15/pseuds/ArtistCat15
Summary: Joker was silent for a few icy moments, their breathing wrapping thick around them, the cold air causing clouds to emerge. Batman breathed thickly through his nose, and Joker panted up at him, open-mouthed, pressed tightly on the wall with eyes heavily lidded with emotions Batman couldn't decipher.(Batman is in denial and Joker is fed up.)





	One in the Same

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to BlackShady313 for giving me the motivation I needed to create this. And I do apologize for my basic writing. I am quite a beginner to putting down my thoughts into words, and I do appreciate constructive criticism.

“Y’know, Batsy,” Joker drawled, bringing the knife he had been swinging on his finger to an abrupt halt. His grip was now iron tight. “You should really loosen up those shoulders. You’ll end up snapping your spine between them one of these days!” 

The image it seemed to summon brought out an obnoxious laugh from the Joker. It punctuated around the warehouse as Batman stalked towards the clown, who was frozen in place and letting out great guffaws. 

It had taken many days, but the bat had finally been able to locate the Joker’s newest hideout. It wasn't anything overly fancy, but then again, it never really was. Empty rooms, the usual supplies of makeup and outrageous clothing, some spray painted walls in the corners of the room, and the ceiling barely containing the cold of the winter chill. It was devoid, empty with just the two of them, one's eyes narrowed and the other's tongue lolling out, waiting for a bloodbath.

Batman made no sign of discomfort or reaction towards the Joker, bringing his hand towards his belt to pull out his batarangs as he stalked forward. His cape billowed out behind him, creating a shadowy effect. He had mastered his nightly persona, and every move was intentionally staged to create the atmosphere he needed when bringing in criminals. The Joker, however, was different. 

He always had been. 

Joker composed himself, still smiling widely as he watched the approaching figure intently. “Oh, really now, darling, why so tense?” His soft eyes turned suddenly wild and bloodthirsty. He moved with the quickness of a springy gazelle as Batman reacted, a batarang lodged into the opposite wall in the blink of an eye. In another blink, Joker had hit the butt of his knife behind his enemy's head, eliciting a feral snarl to spring from Batman’s throat as he too moved with agility, catching Joker’s neck between his hands and clutching tightly. 

"You're sick," Batman managed to growl out, disgust lacing the words like a drug. Joker laughed as he headbutted into him, the force enough to loosen the grip so that Joker could slide clear. "Batsy, you wouldn't love me if I wasn't!" The Joker said with a sickeningly sweet smile, backing up slowly as his eyes darted every which way. 

"I have no reason to continue with these games, Joker," The bat ground out, losing his patience as he managed to trap Joker into one of the shadowy corners of the room. Joker simply grinned a bloody smile up at him, letting his back lean against the wall. Joker purred, "Oh, but don't you? You CREATED me!" 

Joker's arms spread wide, as if to show himself off to the caped crusader. "YOU brought air into these poor, useless lungs! It's only fair that I return the favor…" Joker paused as he went still, gaze searching as his muse continued to stay silent and unmoving until he brusquely spoke. "I need nothing from you. All I want is to see you behind bars." 

Joker was silent for a few icy moments, their breathing wrapping thick around them, the cold air causing clouds to emerge. Batman breathed thickly through his nose, and Joker panted up at him, open-mouthed, pressed tightly on the wall with eyes heavily lidded with emotions Batman couldn't decipher. 

A small spark lit up in Joker, who let out rabid barks of hysterics. His knife dropped as his hand leaned against his forehead, chortles erupting from him like a never ending faucet. Batman narrowed his eyes as Joker's hands went up into his green acidic hair, tugging slightly as the laughter continued. 

Batman took him by the collar of his shirt, lifting and slamming him into the wall. Joker seemed to calm at the action, arms falling uselessly to his sides. Batman had never seen him so unmoving when faced with arrest. His mind raced as Joker met his eyes once more, and the defeat he found in them caused his breathing to hitch. 

This wasn't right. 

They had a pattern. Joker caused a large scale problem, the citizens in peril, and Batman would stop him. They would exchange bloodied brawls (promises), laughter ringing in Batman's ears as the clown slipped from him. Batman would search for him in the name of justice, filled with determination (longing). 

Joker always put up a fight, never stopping until the straight jacket was fit tightly onto him and he could call out, "Until next time, my love!" 

This wasn't supposed to happen. 

Joker's stare became hard, as if he was challenging the bat to question him. Instead, Batman pulled out a pair of custom-made handcuffs, setting Joker down long enough to put them on. He shoved the Joker out from the corner and into the exit, where the batmobile sat. 

Batman tried not to notice the Joker shivering as the cold air hit them, guiding him to the car and putting him into the front of the car. He quickly maneuvered to the wheel, starting up and shooting into the road like a bullet. 

The trip was nonverbal; halfway through the 10 minute drive Batman tuned into the local news to see if anything else in the city needed his attention. 

Soon enough, the Joker was handed over, still silent as the doctors at Arkham took him inside. He never looked back at the bat. Finally, Batman was able to be alone with his thoughts as he arrived to the manor, unmasking his cowl jerkily as he came into the cave. Alfred was there to meet him, seemingly dusting around the place to pass the time. "Welcome back, Master Bruce." Alfred hummed. 

The now unmasked Bruce grunted in reply, setting his cowl and cape to a side table as he sat down at his main computers. His mind was unsettled. He logged in and confirmed that the Joker was legally signed into Arkham once more, hacking into the camera feeds and seeing Joker in his cell. 

He was laying in his bunk, straight jacket on tight, eyes open but staring at nothing. "Another successful capture, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, finally finishing with his chore and coming up to observe. 

Bruce ran a gloved hand through his sweat drenched hair. "In a way," he replied, voice still dark as he logged off and made his way up to his main bedroom. Alfred didn't say a word, simply watching him leave with a knowing look in his eyes. 

Bruce didn't know what to think. He scrubbed his hair relentlessly as he showered, as if he could scratch the years of memories from his mind. Joker's red lips stretching into a piercing grin, usually dribbling with his own blood, the insanity glimmering in his acid green eyes, Bruce's nose tainted with the scent of grease paint. 

And yet, out of all of these instances, Bruce had never witnessed the same draining of life as he had tonight. The light had seemed to seep out of his enemy, shoulders slumped and arms loose when Batman had grabbed them for the handcuffs. 

Bruce couldn't get it to leave him, turning out the lights and finally being able to rest his aching body. He closed his eyes, and all he saw was dull acid; all-consuming.

◇◇◇◇

Bruce played it safe. He continued patrolling as Batman at night, and played the billionaire playboy by day. But every spare moment he could take, he was checking up on the Joker. Seeing what activities he was assigned to. What the tapes at night looked like. What type of food he was being served.

Through it all, Joker was, for once, docile. There were no unwarranted reports about bouts of rage, deranged laughter, or even negative remarks. The reports kept saying he was as stable as they had ever seen, but much too quiet to mean that this was improving his mental health.

(Although,) Bruce thought to himself, (His mind will always be broken…like mine.)

He tried to shove it away. 

Two weeks passed in a blur. A month. Still, nothing new was appearing. Bruce tried to pay it no heed, even as he continued looking over it; it was much too soon for Joker's usual breakout. 

At two months, with no change in material, and no other huge breakouts or night fights distracting him, Bruce was pent up. He tried working it out of his system with his at home gym, with his punching bag. 

Hit. 

Kick. 

No blood. 

No blood- 

No pretty laugh- 

Where was the laugh?- 

Bruce didn't realize his fists were burning until he saw them shining red and raw, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his eyes swimming. 

He turned in earlier that night after patrol. 

♤♤♤♤

"Do you ever get tired, Batsy?" Batman glanced towards the Joker, sitting next to him in his torn up purple suit, looking for all the world a dead man. But it was him. His acid eyes burned into Batman until he couldn't look at anything else. 

He found himself whispering, "Sometimes." Joker gave him a sweet smile- Lord he missed that smile. Joker gestured out to the mayhem of the setting around them. "You see this, Bats?" 

Batman inclined his head without ever looking. Joker's eyes hardened. "LOOK, Batman!" 

He did as he was asked. The buildings of Gotham City were smoking around them, and the ground was smoldering with burning bodies. The sky was a dark crimson, thick with clouds, no sun or moon in sight. Batman couldn't look long. 

Joker's grin was stretched, as if he was comforted by the vigilantes' horror. "Don't you see, dearest?" Joker tilted Batman's chin up, thumb rubbing over his stubble lovingly. "This is what happens when we're separated. We tear everything around us apart. Our city needs both of us in it to survive. I am not me without you, and you aren't you without me." 

Batman swallowed thickly, overwhelmed as Joker leaned closer to him, a second hand cupping his cheek. Bruce's eyes slipped closed--Joker's head was next to his--he felt a gurgle of laughter tumble into his ear. "Time to wake up, love." 

Bruce jolted upwards in a cold sweat, eyes blown wide. He was blinking rapidly for less than a minute before growling to himself. He quickly suited up, his ears ringing with the need to run, to flee. 

The wind against him was chilly- the winter months had passed, the seasons now changing, however slow it might seem- and the blast felt refreshing instead of a nuisance. Batman was able to catch a low life gang messing with a couple. The unconscious men around gave Batman no satisfaction, and so he kept flying over the rooftops. 

He let his feet guide him. He knew this city like the back of his hand. His running led him to the one place he knew he shouldn't be--Arkham Asylum. Avoiding surveillance was too easy. It wasn't surprising that criminals so easily escaped. He would have to look into that later. 

Batman calculated the building from his high view. He had memorized the layout of the asylum years ago. He made it to the room the tapes two nights ago had said the Joker was in. It had a window- fitted with metal bars and bullet proof glass- but still a window. Joker seemed to have upgraded. 

Batman flitted through the side of the building, using his batarang to glide down. He got to the room, breath held as he carefully peered into it. He knew the darkness of the night and the shadows around the building would cover him enough- what he wasn't prepared for was the Joker to be sitting by the window, staring into the void with an intensity Batman was familiar with. 

Joker’s green eyes widened, narrowing as he caught a small movement- And Batman was gone.

Back at the manor, doing pull-ups and sit-ups until he couldn't anymore, and the light of afternoon streaming in as he tried not to remember the longing he felt being reflected back at him. 

♧♧♧♧

Another week passed- Alfred was noticing quite a difference in the man he had raised. He was much more jittery than usual- always tapping his foot or drumming his fingers on something; his eyes were always distant, far off and seemingly wistful; and his face looked weary, saddened, with dark bags under his eyes that his fellow businessmen were starting to notice as well. 

He was constantly shut out in his cave, hardly eating, and very obviously not sleeping. Alfred decided that enough was enough. That night, when Alfred called for Bruce to collect his dinner and Alfred was denied once more, Alfred came to him with the food. 

At the sound of the door, Alfred heard frantic clicking and papers shuffling about. He was able to peek in to find that they had been reports, which wasn't unusual in and of itself; however, he was able to see that familiar grinning face even from the staircase. 

Bruce turned away from Alfred as he reached the computers, setting the stew down to the side. "Master Bruce…I would like to talk about your behavior as of late." Alfred saw Bruce's shoulders tense, finishing his shuffling and putting the papers to the side. "What about it, Alfred?" Even his voice sounded defeated. 

Alfred smiled gently. "You forget, Bruce. I know you better than you think I do." Bruce turned to face him fully, raising an eyebrow. Alfred continued. "Admitting when something is wrong is not one of your strong suits. However, I'd like to help any way I can." 

Bruce snorted softly. "This isn't something that can be fixed." 

"Maybe not," Alfred conceded. "But it might help if all the facts were on the table." He made sure he had eye contact with Bruce. "What you seem to be missing is that you are in love with the Joker." 

Bruce freezed up. His eyes betrayed nothing, glazed over, his whole body tensed up and showing no movement. Alfred let the silence stretch a moment more before excusing himself. "Make sure to eat the food, Master Bruce."

He received silence as a reply as he left the cave. Bruce hadn't moved. His heart was beating in panic. (No. It's not possible. He's a monster. I wouldn't ever- I shouldn't-)

Bruce turned and continued his frenzied report search, abandoning the thoughts and leaving the food cold. 

♡♡♡♡

He was in another dream. He was in a field covered with flowers of all sorts of colors- reds and blues and oranges and yellows- and the air around him was light. Bruce realized that in this dream, he wasn't Batman. 

A sudden weight on his back caused him to tense, but a familiar giggle by his ear made him freeze completely. "Hello, darling~" Joker jumped off before Bruce could react. 

Joker came in front of him, smiling as they met eyes. "Oh, Brucey…always so jumpy." Joker came close and caressed Bruce's cheek. Bruce flinched back, eyes burning with an unfamiliar emotion as he turned away from the clown. There was silence until Bruce choked out, "Why?" 

Joker's smile was prevalent in his voice. "Why what, my dear?" Bruce growled as he turned back around, fists clenching. "Why are you always in my head? You're locked up. You're…you're gone, and I shouldn't have to worry about that!" Bruce's voice raised, eyes now stinging ferociously. 

"I shouldn't be wondering when you're breaking out. I shouldn't need you to break out! I shouldn't love-" Bruce's voice caught, jaw clenching shut as the enormous weight of his words hit him, harder than any fist could. 

Joker's gloved hand caught the tears creeping down Bruce's cheek, cooing softly. "I'm so proud of you, Bats." Bruce opened his eyes to see the Joker's fond expression, full of life. 

The flowers around them were changing colors. They were black and green and purple. 

Joker stepped away to pluck a black rose, coming close again and tucking it into Bruce's raven hair. The thorns pressed against his scalp as sharply as Joker's fingers, curling around the collar of his shirt. "You're almost there, my love. So close to being mine." Joker's gaze radiated with sadness. "Don't run from me anymore, Bruce. I don't think I'd have the heart to come back from it." 

Bruce's throat was too tight. Everything was burning. Everything was black and green and purple, swirling together, red lips coming closer towards him--

His sheets were damp with sweat.

◇♤♧♡

Bruce could only take so much before he had to face the truth. Eyes rimmed in dark circles, he made his plan of action. 

It was the dead of night. Suspicious activity was as slow as it could get for Arkham. Batman deactivated the cameras that would make his entrance known, making sure the routine guards were at bay, and slipped in unseen. 

The prison hall echoed with his footsteps. The moment the Joker's cell was in eyesight, Batman became uncharacteristically nervous. He brushed off his cape and fiddled with his cowl, huffing out a tense breath before standing face to face with the door. With a swiped entrance card, the door slipped open only just slightly, allowing Batman to flit in soundlessly. 

The room was, unsurprisingly, small. There was a small cot in one corner, the window in the other. Everything was white, except for the ridiculous orange jumpsuit the Joker was forced to wear. The Clown Prince of Crime himself was sat in the cot, his long spindly legs pushed up, cradling his head as he rest his chin on his kneecaps. His skin was even more pale than usual, even without the makeup, and his hair a dull green, having lost its flair. 

Joker was startled out of his deep thinking at the sound of the door, jerking his gaze over to meet eyes with his enemy. There was a tense, shocked silence, the Joker's eyes widening comically and breath hitching as the dark knight towered over his cot, casting a long shadow down and over him. 

Batman was having trouble breathing as well. Having the Joker this close to him after 2 and a half months was startling to him. 

Batman allowed Joker to process the situation for a moment more, telling himself to have a grip on himself. The Joker finally let out a short huff of laughter, lips curling. "WELL now, if this isn't a…surprise." Joker's tone was dry and scratchy, sneering as he lifted himself from the cot. 

Batman took a step back, allowing Joker to throw his legs over the side and stand. Joker's sneer dimmed. "What are you doing here, Batman?" His voice sounded tired. 

He wanted an answer. A REAL one. 

Batman schooled himself, taking a breath before hissing out, "I need to ask you a few questions." Joker choked out a surprised laugh, heaving between them. "In the middle of the night?! Why couldn't goodie two shoes Batman do it in daylight hours, with cameras, and witnesses?" Joker's tone turned dangerous, his full height pushed up against Batman's. 

He took a step closer, almost chest to chest with Batman. "Why am I your exception, eh, Batsy?" Joker's knowing smile made Batman's fingers twitch, but he kept himself still. He knew what Joker wanted. And finally…he wanted it too. 

Batman took the needed step to push the two of them together, his gloved hands catching Joker's waist, his small breath of disbelief filling the room. Batman moved his head closer to Joker's, more sure than he had ever been. Joker's eyes were wider than Batman had seen them, open and vulnerable, body shaking under Batman's fingers. Batman smiled. 

"Do you need me, Joker? Do you need me as much as I need you?" Joker's mouth open and closed soundlessly, fingers suddenly clenching into Batman's cape with an iron tight grip. Joker's eyes became lidded as Batman moved a hand to cup the nape of Joker's neck, pushing him closer. "Always, darling." 

Hearing this was all the bat wanted. He tilted his head and suddenly their lips were met. Joker was softer than Batman had thought he would be, and he melted into the kiss. They stood chest to chest, and Batman could feel the rumble of delight pulling out of Joker. Their movements were gentle; dripping with sweetness and years of longing all wrapped up into one tender moment. Batman could feel his pulse in his ears as he clutched at his enemy, mind and heart caught in a vicious battle as acid filled his lungs. 

They parted only for air, and the wildly triumphant look in Joker's smile caused Batman to press their foreheads together, huffed breaths mingling. 

"I TOLD you, Batsy, we complete each other! My plan worked splendidly!" Joker trailed one of his pale hands down the suit's bat logo. Joker had a purr in his voice as eyes wandered. "Very splendidly…" 

Batman caught his hand, giving him a small glare. "You're 'plan?' Which consisted of rotting in your cell until you expected me to come after you?" 

Joker leaned into Batman, blinking up at him innocently. "Isn't that exactly what happened, Bats?" Joker asked with glittering eyes. Batman couldn't help the small kiss he placed on the clown's nose, pulling him close and carding gloved fingers through dirty hair. 

"I suppose," Batman said to himself thoughtfully. Joker closed his eyes as he smiled contently. 

He didn't know what this was. Hell, he wasn't sure if he ever would. 

(At least one thing the Joker's insane mind came up with was true,) Batman thought to himself as he shot off into the darkness. (We're one and the same.)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are very appreciated, any type and any length.


End file.
